Covid-19 Support for Businesses

from Horsham Pages North May/June 2020

Health & Wellbeing

Business Rates Discount The retail discount was due to be increased from onethird to 50% and has now been increased to 100%. The discount has also been extended to include businesses within the leisure and hospitality industries.

This relief has now been granted to those we have identified as eligible and a revised bill will be issued. If you do not receive a revised bill and feel you may be eligible, please contact us by email at hdcrevenues@milton-keynes.gov.uk. Small Business Grant Scheme The government will provide additional Small Business Grant Scheme funding for local authorities to support small businesses that already pay little or no business rates because of small business rate relief (SBBR), rural rate relief (RRR) and tapered relief. This will provide a one-off grant of £10,000 to eligible businesses to help meet their ongoing business costs. We will have further information on how to obtain your grant. during the week commencing Monday 6th April www.lgss-revsbens.com/horsham/business-rates Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Scheme This scheme provides businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with a cash grant of up to £25,000 per property.

Businesses in these sectors with a rateable value of under £15,000 will receive a grant of £10,000. For businesses in these sectors with a rateable value of between £15,001 and £51,000, they will receive a grant of £25,000. www.lgss-revs-bens.com/horsham/business-rates Job Retention Scheme All UK employers will be able to access support to continue paying part of their employees' salary for those employees that would otherwise have been laid off during this crisis.

HMRC will reimburse 80% of affected employees wage costs, up to a cap of £2,500 per month. Employers will need to designate affected employees as 'furloughed workers' and once the new online portal is live, submit this information to HMRC www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenuecustoms Deferral of VAT Valued Added Tax (VAT) payments are to be deferred for three months (20 March until 30 June 2020). If you are self-employed, Income Tax payments due in July 2020 under the Self-Assessment system will be deferred to January 2021. This is an automatic offer with no applications required. www.businesssupport.gov.uk/vat-deferral/ Time to Pay Service All businesses and self-employed people in financial distress, and with outstanding tax liabilities, may be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs through HMRC Time to Pay service. These arrangements are agreed on a case-by-case basis and are tailored to individual circumstances and liabilities. The HMRC dedicated helpline is 0800 0159 559. www.businesssupport.gov.uk/support-for-businessespaying-tax/ Three-month extension period to file accounts From 25 March 2020, businesses will be able to apply for a 3-month extension for filing their accounts. This joint initiative between the government and Companies House will mean businesses can prioritise managing the impact of Coronavirus. Applications can be made through a fast-tracked online system. www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-more-time-to-fileyour-companys-accounts Statutory Sick Pay Relief Small and medium-sized businesses (fewer than 250 employees) will be able to reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for sickness absence due to COVID-19. The Government will work with employers over the coming months to set up the repayment mechanism for employers as soon as possible. This refund will cover up to 2 weeks' SSP per eligible employee who has been off work because of COVID-19. A rebate scheme is being developed. www.businesssupport.gov.uk/statutory-sick-payrebate/

Relaxation of Planning Rules Planning rules will be relaxed so pubs and restaurants can operate as hot food takeaways. The Government will set out measures to enable businesses to deliver this service without a planning application for a period of up to 12 months. Businesses will be required to tell the local planning authority when the new use begins and ends. Insurance Most commercial insurance policies are unlikely to cover pandemics or unspecified notifiable diseases, such as COVID-19.

However, those businesses which have an insurance policy that covers government ordered closure and pandemics or government ordered closure and unspecified notifiable disease should be able to make a claim (subject to the terms and conditions of their policy).

Insurance policies differ significantly, so businesses are encouraged to check the terms and conditions of their specific policy and contact their providers.

The Association of British Insurers has a Covid 19 Information Hub: www.abi.org.uk/products-andissues/topics-and-issues/coronavirus-hub/ Business Interruption Loan Scheme The temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme supports small and medium-sized businesses with access to loans, overdrafts, invoice finance and asset finance of up to £5 million and for up to six years.

The Government will also make a Business Interruption Payment to cover the first 12 months of interest payments and any lender-levied fees, so smaller businesses will benefit from no upfront costs and lower initial repayments.

The scheme will be delivered through commercial lenders, backed by the Government-owned British Business Bank. There are 40 accredited lenders able to offer the scheme, including all the major banks. Eligibility criteria can be found on: www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-businessinterruption-loan-scheme/

Please visit the British Business Bank website for more information: www.british-business- bank.co.uk/ourpartners/coronavirus-businessinterruption-loan-scheme-cbils-2/current-accreditedlenders-and-partners/ Loans for Larger Firms To support larger firms, the Bank of England has announced a new lending facility (the COVID-19 Corporate Financing Facility) to provide a quick and cost effective way to raise working capital via the purchase of short-term debt. To access the scheme you will need to contact your bank. More information can be found on the Bank of England website: www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2020/march/thecovid-corporate-financing-facility Self-Employment Income Support Scheme The Self-employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will support self-employed individuals (including members of partnerships) who have lost income due to coronavirus. This scheme will allow you to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of your trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for the next three months. This may be extended if needed. This is a link to the Scheme FAQs: www.businesssupport.gov.uk/self-employmentincome-support-scheme-faqs/ Coast to Capital Backing Business Grants If you are an independent small business or social enterprise (excluding charities) based in West Sussex, Brighton & Hove, or East Surrey (Epsom and Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, Tandridge) with 5- 50 FTE (full time equivalent) workforce who has been trading for over 2 years and have an annual turnover of under £10m, you can apply for a grant of £5,000- £25,000 to fund specific measures to help you to adapt, evolve and innovate to the various economic impacts brought about by the pandemic.

Applicants must use the grant to implement one or more of the following measures: • Adapt their operations to remote working. This might include acquisition of computer hardware or software or other physical measures to support the separation of staff and deliver sustained operations; • Evolve their business model to boost and retain cash-flow. This might include firms which are no

longer able to sell directly to customers and need to add new delivery or marketing functions; • Innovate their business model to meet the new demands of consumers during the COVID-19 scenario.

Applicants will be required to submit the latest filed company accounts and latest management accounts along with the application form for the business. The grants can be used for capital or revenue costs, or a mixture of both – there are no restrictions on the ratio of capital and revenue. The grant will be made in a one-off advance payment and will need to be evidence after spend has taken place.

The grants cannot be used to pay for salaries or staffing costs. www.coast2capital.org.uk/backingbusiness-grants Ban on Evictions for Commercial Tenants Commercial tenants who cannot pay their rent because of coronavirus will be protected from eviction, the government has announced. Many landlords and tenants are already having conversations and reaching voluntary arrangements about rental payments due shortly but the Government recognises businesses struggling with their cashflow due to coronavirus remain worried about eviction.

These measures will mean no business will be forced out of their premises if they miss a payment in the next three months. As commercial tenants will still be liable for the rent after this period, the Government is also actively monitoring the impact on commercial landlords' cash flow and continues to be in dialogue with them. Annual leave rules relaxed Workers who have not taken all of their statutory annual leave entitlement due to Coronavirus will now be able to carry it over into the next 2 leave years. Emergency Volunteering Leave A clause in the Coronavirus Bill 2020 creates a temporary new form of statutory unpaid leave for employees and workers who wish to volunteer - Emergency Volunteering Leave. The clause also includes certain rights and protections for employees and workers who take Emergency Volunteering CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

Leave, including, for example, the maintenance of terms and conditions of employment during any period of leave and protection from detriment for taking the leave. The clause also provides an obligation on the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to establish a compensation scheme to compensate eligible volunteers for some loss of income and expenses incurred.

The total consecutive amount of Emergency Volunteering Leave an individual can take is 4 weeks in any volunteering period of 16 weeks. There are exemptions for micro businesses (those with 10 or fewer employees). UK Export Finance (UKEF) UK Export Finance (UKEF) works with banks and insurance brokers to help companies of all sizes fulfil and get paid for export contracts. It provides guarantees, loans and insurance on behalf of the government that can protect UK exporters facing delayed payments or transit restrictions. Help from UKEF: • If your business is facing disruption due to late payments, UKEF can help ease cash flow constraints by guaranteeing bank loans through its Export Working Capital Scheme • If you are concerned about getting paid, UKEF offers an export insurance policy that can help you recover the costs of fulfilling an order that is terminated by events outside your control • UKEF can also support finance for overseas buyers through the Direct Lending Facility scheme, so they can continue to buy your goods and services • UKEF has over £4 billion of capacity to support UK firms exporting to China, as well as significant capacity across other markets affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) to help cover these risks. To find out if UKEF covers your region, email customer.service@ukexportfinance.gov.uk Business Closures and Stay at Home The Government has issues a list of FAQs to assist those businesses that have been ordered to close and the steps businesses should take where they continue to open: www.businesssupport.gov.uk/business-closures-andstay-at-home-faqs/

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